


Who Wins

by Thatonegothynerd



Series: Teaghan and Team Goth [3]
Category: Dungeons & Dragons (Roleplaying Game)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-11
Updated: 2019-07-11
Packaged: 2020-06-26 07:55:01
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,729
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19763851
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Thatonegothynerd/pseuds/Thatonegothynerd
Summary: After saving Stefan Connington from a plot against him, Teaghan is stuck on the beautiful nobleman. However, ties in her past make her want to deny her feelings. Will Teaghan's heart win out, or her head?





	Who Wins

**Author's Note:**

> tw: abuse

It had been just over a week since the events of the sewer rescue, or as Teaghan had dubbed it “The Crossed Cousins Catastrophe”, and things had fallen into a schedule for Team Goth. During the day, Millicent, Alistair, Tunni, and Teaghan were busy with their respective classes, and afterwards there was plenty to do with the remodeling of the Go Oasis and starting griffon riding lessons at the Connington estate. Not that any of them had been allowed on a griffon, no they were still far from that according to their instructors, but they had started nonetheless. After everything each day, Teaghan still found time to perform at the Maverick Minstrel on her regular nights. The owners, Ada and Sera had assured her that she didn’t need to if she didn’t have time, her room was hers until she no longer needed it, but Teaghan wasn’t about to take advantage of their generosity. They had been so kind to her over the past four years that she could never imagine taking anything from them when they had given her so much.  
It was a normal night - or well, as normal as a busy night at the Maverick Minstrel could be - when Stefan Connington walked through the tavern’s doors. Teaghan saw him right away from her seat near the stage. He was beautiful - he was always beautiful - but seeing him in her favorite place in Emon, holding a bouquet of white flowers, he was glowing.

  
She hadn’t seen him since their first meeting, though she had looked for him during her griffon lessons. She hadn’t been able to stop thinking about him since she and her friends rescued him from the sewers. The day after their first encounter, she decided to consult an expert in matters of the heart.

“Kass,” she sent that morning, “I need your help with something. I don’t know what to do.”

“What happened? Are you okay?” The immediate and panicked response came from the oldest of her three younger sisters.

“Kass, there’s a boy. His name is Stephan and I can’t stop thinking about him.”

“Oh Tiggy, that’s all you had to say.”

The next few days she talked with her sister, sending her as much as she could between her busy life and her limited knowledge of spells.

“It’s a normal thing Tiggy,” her sister told her one afternoon, “to see someone cute and like them. It happens to almost everyone.”

“Not to me,” she sent back. In her twenty-two years of life, Teaghan had never been this stuck on someone. She had seen plenty of beautiful people in her life, even some she would dare to say were prettier than Stefan, but she hadn’t thought about them for days on end.

“Tell him how you feel. Then you’ll know if he feels the same way,” came her sister’s practical advice. “Maybe you’ll write a romance together you can tell me some day.”

That’s what she was afraid of. Teaghan was more scared that he did like her than him not liking her at all. It would have been a relief for him to say he didn’t care about her. It might be a relief to not see him again. Because of her father. Because he wanted her to marry someone, someone exactly like Stefan, and she wouldn’t do that. She wouldn’t let her father win. He had taken too much from her already, he would not take her decisions from her too.

Now, seeing him all of these thoughts came flooding back to her as his eyes scanned the crowd before landing on her, a breathtaking smile breaking across his face. She smiled back, gods help her, unable to keep it in. It wasn’t in her nature not to smile, especially not when smiled at. As he walked over to where she sat, Teaghan tried desperately to focus on anything but his face, and instead directed her attention to the flowers he held in his hand. They were beautiful full magnolia blooms, all perfectly white.

“Hello Teaghan,” he said as she looked back to his face. “I’m glad I found you here. These are for you.” He held out the flowers for her and she took them, once again fumbling to find her words.

“Hey-Hello. Hi, Stefan. How are you?” She asked.

“You don’t have to be nervous, Teaghan,” Stefan said, sitting down next to her. “I’m just a normal person.”

“I know,” she said, trying to remember all of Kassandra’s advice, “It’s just that, you’re very pretty.”

“As are you,” he responded and Teaghan blushed.

“And I can’t stop thinking about you.” Teaghan did not look away from him as she spoke.

“I’ve been thinking about you too,” he said.

“You have been?” she said in genuine surprise.

“Yes. It’s not every day I meet a woman that saves my life and calls me pretty afterwards.”

“You must not be meeting the right kind of women then,” came her response. He laughed at her joke and Teaghan reveled in the sound. She loved to make people laugh, and hearing his laugh made her especially happy.

“I was wondering, Teaghan, if you were free tomorrow evening to have dinner with me?” he asked and Teaghan felt herself deflate. She tried to think of the right words to say, but nothing came. Stefan’s face crumbled just a bit and he laughed off the perceived rejection. “Or I guess not. That’s fine too.”

“It’s not that I don’t want to, really I do,” she said and realized she meant it. “It’s just that… I can’t - I mean I don’t - I mean -”

“It’s alright, Teaghan, really. You don’t have to explain anything to me. It’s your business, I just thought I would ask,” he said, earnestness in his eyes. Gods help her that just made her all the more upset she didn’t say yes immediately.

“I want to explain though,” she said and he sat patiently listening. “You see, there’s sort of this thing that’s keeping me from saying yes, well not exactly a thing but a person.”  
“Are you… with someone else?” he asked after a moment of silence between them.

“No, no. Nothing like that,” she said. “It’s my father.”

“Ah well, fathers can be difficult creatures, can’t they?” he said.

“Mine is particularly, uh, difficult. You see, he sent me away four years ago to find a husband. And I don’t want to give him what he wants. I don’t want him to win.” Teaghan did not mention that on that day he beat her as she shielded her sisters from him. She did not mention the horrible, vile way he phrased this task for her. She did not mention that the thought of her father scared her more than anything in the world. No, Teaghan kept those details to herself. She never shared them with anyone. Some things were just too much to ask other people to bear.

“I see,” Stefan said, reading her face. “My father had me betrothed once.”

Shock at his statement pulled Teaghan from the dark memories of the past.

“What happened?” she asked.

“Well, when I was very young my father betrothed me to the daughter of another wealthy and influential family. It’s not uncommon among the ‘societal elites.’” Teaghan heard the mocking in his tone with those last two words. “She was a sweet girl, and very pretty. We were friends as children. But a few years ago, it was discovered her family were secretly slavers and my father no longer wanted us associated. He broke off the engagement immediately. Now he’s hyper-critical of any lady that comes near me.”

“Did… did you love her,” Teaghan asked, unsure if she wanted to know the answer.

“She was a good and kind friend, but no, I wouldn’t say I loved her, at least not in the way you’re implying,” he said.

Relief flooded Teaghan followed my immediate sadness. It would have been better if he had loved her. Then she wouldn’t have to push him away now.

“Teaghan,” he said before she had a chance to speak, “I know you don’t want to do something just because your father wants it, but what do you want?”

What did she want? Nobody ever asked her that. She was always the one encouraging others to go after what they wanted, her own wants often feel to the wayside. Well, she wanted to bring her sisters here, to Emon. She wanted her father to never be able to hurt anyone again. But right now, in this moment-

“I want to say yes to dinner with you,” she said, looking away.

He outstretched a hand and gently had her face him. “Then say yes. If you want it, then say yes. What your father wants has nothing to do with this. If you let him control your life like this… then he wins. He gets what he wants.”

Teaghan had never thought of it that way before. She had also never wanted to kiss someone so much before. A smile spread across Stefan’s face as a blush spread across Teaghan’s. He leaned forward and softly pressed his lips to hers. He pulled away and Teaghan melted.

“I don’t know if my father will approve or like you,” he said now, a teasing to his tone.

“Most people can’t help but like me,” she replied, finally finding her words.

“He’s not most people,” he said, taking her petite freckled hand in his own.

“Neither is Millicent, and she likes me,” she said.

“He’s going to take a lot of convincing.”

“If I can convince a cyclops to give up on hurting people, a thief to pursue his culinary passion, and Millicent to let me call her Millie, I think I can convince your dad. Plus you’re pretty convincing yourself.”

“How so?” he countered, grin turning slightly cocky.

“Well, you just convinced me to go on a date, didn’t you?” she said.

“That I did,” he replied, kissing her again. This kiss was deeper than the last, and Teaghan was in heaven.

The two chatted and kissed until it was time for Teaghan to perform. Unlike her usual songs about adventurers and battles, that night Teaghan performed nothing but love songs, and silently dedicated them all to the beautiful man that sat in the front row and was enraptured by every song.


End file.
